Everyone in the room knows staffing is not great, but the problem is we as a workforce keep, "making it work". Our complaints are falling on deaf ears. How many times over the years has NATCA leadership continued with the same approach. They sit in front of Congress or have members visit the facilities and more or less complain about staffing numbers. It's not working!
The Agency has found the sweet spot when it comes to staffing. In the eyes of the decision makers, management is accomplishing their mission by maximizing their best and most expensive resource, labor. A work stoppage is the fastest way to get everyone's attention and that's off the table and won't happen. I've seen many push for a change to our OT compensation and while I welcome any increase in pay and improvement to staffing, I think there's a better way to approach the subject.
NATCA should advocate for no forced OT. There will always be those controllers that want to work OT, but as more and more facilities have moved to six day work weeks, in many facilities those on the "no" list have grown. Even with controllers moving to the "no" list they continue to be forced into OT because there's no one left on the "yes" list who is eligible. Imagine how many controllers would move to the "no" list during the summer. Forced two hour holdovers could no longer happen. Obviously, the Agency would fight this every step of the way, but the harder they fight against it, the better our argument about being understaffed and overworked looks. Management depends on us to work OT to make the operation work. This would guaranteed more time away from the facility and improve member's QOL. We all want the Union to fight for pay rasises but when they ask for more funding it should be in our base pay, weekend pay, safety bonus, etc. It's a better sell for the Union when it sits in front of Congress because they're not advocating to incentivize more OT and fight against their own argument of being overworked. They would be fighting for fatigue management and safety.
